Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland heads back to the mound after giving up a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox Tuesday, May 14, 2019, at Fenway Park in Boston.

Given the struggles experienced by starting pitchers, are the Rockies considering bringing up Peter Lambert or other pitchers from the minors?— Judy Friedman, Denver

Judy, nice to hear from you, and thanks for participating in the mailbag. You are absolutely right that the Rockies’ rotation is struggling. As I write this, its ERA stands at 5.78 and its WHIP is 1.46, both the worst marks in the National League.

In regard to Lambert, the Rockies are very high on him, Bud Black in particular. Black thinks of Lambert as a pitcher, not just a young thrower.

That being said, Lambert, just 22, remains a work in progress. As we all know, the Rockies don’t like to rush their prospects into the majors. Plus, Lambert is not on the 40-man roster yet.

He is, however, making strides. Over 10 starts with Triple-A Albuquerque, he’s 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA, 1.36 WHIP and a .272 batting average against him. Keep in mind that ERAs are going to be inflated for any pitcher taking the mound in the Pacific Coast League.

Lambert’s last start was excellent: seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks at Las Vegas.

Now, to answer your basic question, I do think Lambert will make his major-league debut this season, but I think it will come after the all-star break. The other prospects on the radar are right-hander Ryan Castellani (2-3, 6.32 ERA at Triple-A) and right-hander Rico Garcia (5-1, 1.98 ERA, with 63 strikeouts vs. 18 walks at Double-A Hartford).

Charles, I’m sure your question was submitted some time ago, because the Rockies’ catching has been a real strength this season. Tony Wolters has not only significantly improved his game-calling skills and his defense, but he’s batting .296 with a .765 OPS. That coming after he hit just .170 last season. Wolter’s simplified and more straight-forward approach is paying off.

Veteran Chris Iannetta, clearly the backup now, has been decent at the plate, batting .246 with three home runs.

Thanks for your insight Patrick. I enjoy your straightforward, honest approach. I am curious what your thoughts are on why the Rockies have not retired Larry Walker’s No. 33? It would certainly be warranted if he were elected to the HOF, but what is there to lose even if he isn’t?— Joe W., Denver

Joe, thanks for the compliment, and thanks for reading. The idea of retiring a number should not be taken lightly, but Walker is an intriguing candidate. From what I understand, the decision rests mostly with owner Dick Monfort, as it should.

I don’t know this for sure, but I’m thinking that Monfort considers Todd Helton, a player who spent his whole career with the Rockies, as a rare and special case. Walker, as great a player as he was, spent time with Montreal and St. Louis, so I think that’s part of Monfort’s consideration. If Walker makes the Hall of Fame — still an iffy proposition — I’m not sure that would be enough for Monfort to want to retire Walker’s number.

I would imagine that the next Rockies player to have his number retired would be Nolan Arenado – if he sticks with the club long term.

Luke Gregerson appears to be available, what about him if his arm is ok? I’m not ready to panic yet, but are the Rockies looking at any possible pitchers to pick up, free agent or otherwise?— Gregory Weiss, Denver

Gregory, I’m not sure what the appeal is regarding Gregerson, who’s 35 years old and never pitched well in St. Louis after the Cardinals signed him to a two-year, $11 million contract prior to the 2018 season.

“A hamstring strain and a shoulder impingement limited Gregerson to just 12 2/3 innings in 2018, and those shoulder troubles lingered into the 2019 campaign. He missed the first month-plus of the season due to that shoulder, and the effects may well have impacted him upon his return. While he’s never been a hard thrower, Gregerson found success with the Padres and Astros with a fastball that averaged around 89.5 mph; however, his heater averaged just 87.8 mph in 2018 and 86.7 mph in this season’s even more limited sample.Gregerson was designated for assignment just 13 days after being activated from the injured list. In all, Gregerson will throw only 18 1/3 innings at the MLB level as a Cardinal. In that time, he posted a 7.36 ERA with a 14-to-7 K/BB ratio and 25 hits allowed (including a pair of homers).”

In my opinion, it could be that Gregerson’s career has come to an end. In regard to the Rockies making any other additions, I think it’s a little too early to start making what would be guesses on that topic.

The Rockies lead the league in number of missed swings at pitches out of the zone. They also lead the league in number of pitches missed in the zone. And if they’re not leading the league in strike-outs, they’re certainly way up there. So, Patrick, what’s the deal? Is anyone telling them, “don’t do that?” Or is being aggressive more important? Is Black’s management style so laissez-faire that he’s just waiting for everyone to be more selective at the plate?— John Ashton, Denver

John, I understand your frustration, and I assume you submitted your question when the Rockies were whiffing a lot on a recent road trip. Things have gotten better of late, but strikeouts remain a big problem. But it’s not just the Rockies who are striking out at an alarming rate, it’s a general trend throughout the majors.

As for your comment that Black has a laissez-faire attitude, that’s just not true. The Rockies have stressed that their players need to be more selective at the plate. Part of the problem is that some of the Rockies’ young players are still learning to hit major-league pitching. David Dahl, for example, is batting .305, yet he’s striking out 34 percent of the time. He knows that’s too much.

Hi Patrick, I’m curious what your take is on the Rockies’ ability to develop pitchers. Kyle Freeland looked like a world beater last year, and Jon Gray looked like a star in the making the year before that. Eddie Butler was “The Next Big Thing.” Drew Pomeranz and Jeff Hoffman were the keys to big trades. The list of pitchers who looked like they should be good to great, but ended up struggling or failing (or going elsewhere to succeed) is really long for Colorado. Other than Jeff Francis, I can’t think of a home-grown pitcher who has had sustained success. I’m hoping Marquez bucks the trend, but this year’s Freeland makes next year’s Marquez look suspect. What can the team do?— Josh Weiss, Denver

Josh, I don’t have the time or space to delve deeply into your question in this mailbag. I would submit to you that, despite Freeland’s struggles, the Rockies’ approach to starting pitching over the last few years has been relatively solid. Last season, for example, the starting rotation posted a 4.17 ERA, the second-lowest in franchise history.

Pitching at altitude is always going to present a unique and difficult challenge – there is no denying that – but I like that the current Rockies have not used that as an excuse. Their idea of “attitude over altitude” might seem like a simplistic slogan, but the team has embraced it.

In regard to Gray, I think he’s pitching relatively well right now and I think it’s way too early to give up on him. Marquez is the real deal. Freeland? We’ll see if he can figure it out. But I don’t think it’s the Rockies’ inability to develop pitchers that is to blame for Freeland’s early-season woes. That rests mostly on Freeland to figure out.

I have not been impressed with Dahl’s overall defense in centerfield. Do you agree and do you believe that Raimel Tapia might be a better fit.— Jeff Sandman, Centennial

Jeff, I disagree with you. I think Dahl’s defense in center field, while not great, has been mostly solid. Tapia, who made a great catch in left field in Colorado’s walk-off win over the Diamondbacks on Monday, remains a work in progress. He’s getting better all of the time, but he makes some rather curious throws from the outfield.

We need Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra to return for maturity in the locker room and balance. We must win 20 games in June.— Richard Radow, Golden

OK, Richard, those aren’t questions, but you got your points across. As much as you might like it, neither CarGo or Parra are coming back. CarGo remains a man without a team, while Parra is now a role player with the Nationals.

Do the Rockies miss the fun and joy the duo brought to the clubhouse? Yes. But the time had come to turn the page, and I think it’s clear that Raimel Tapia and David Dahl need playing time to allow their talents to blossom.

Everyone loves CarGo, but he is just not the player he once was, as his statistics with the Indians illustrate: A .210/.282/.276 slash line with two home runs and a 28.2 percent strikeout rate in 117 plate appearances.

As for 20 wins in June, that would mean a 20-8 record with a scheduled that includes seven games against the Dodgers and six against the Cubs. How about 17-11?

It seems like Seunghwan Oh‘s offseason lamenting about returning to his homeland may be affecting his game this year. Perhaps it’s more mental than anything else. With the strength of our bullpen and the two lefties coming back after rehab isn’t it time to cut him loose?— Bill Gibson, Denver

Bill, I don’t think Oh’s early-season woes have anything to do with homesickness for his native South Korea. He just hasn’t located his pitches as he needs to. Slumps from relievers happen often, so I don’t think it would be wise to simply “cut him loose.” That would be short-sighted.

A number of fans wanted to know where they can find the book, which was penned by Goodman, the Rockies’ play-by-play man for AT&T SportsNet, and assisted by Benjamin Hochman, the St. Louis Post Dispatch columnist who used to write for The Denver Post.

The book may be found at The Tattered Cover, Barnes and Nobel and also on Amazon.com.

Also, fans wanted to know what I meant when I wrote: “It is, however, a celebration of the team, so don’t expect to find a critique or harsh analysis of players, managers or GMs Dan O’Dowd or Jeff Bridich (who unleashes a nasty shot at beat writers such as myself).”

This is what Bridich told Goodman, who chose to include the comments in the book:

“I think I’m personally blessed with a capacity to not really care what is said about me all that much. I don’t really buy into the whole media evaluation.The reality is–and this is going to sound petty and bad—if you just objectively look at the people who are evaluating us every day, you know they’ve never come close to doing this job and all the work that goes into it. And most of them, probably 99 percent of them, they’ve never even led anything in their lives.They’ve worked for themselves. They’ve been self-interested beat writers who have worked for themselves and they have a job to do every day. I had the good fortune of seeing that for a long time before taking this job. So I knew not to put a whole lot of time and energy into what they think about me.It’d be like if I went to a hospital every day and wrote a blog about the job done by one of the surgeons and the things he screwed up. That’s crazy. I know nothing about brain surgery, nor have I ever even worked on the path to become a brain surgeon. That’s what goes on in this industry and other sports industries.”

Denver Post sports writer Patrick Saunders posts his Rockies Mailbag every other week on Tuesdays during the season and once per month during the offseason.